News
Local

Local police officer helps deliver fire truck to Nicaragua

Saugeen Shores Police Sgt. Andy Evans (right) rides the back of the tanker with friend Juan Jose Tellez, a volunteer firefighter in Chinandega, Nicaragua. Before delivering the tanker, Tellez had never left the homeland.

The residents of Big Corn Island in Nicaragua welcomed the island’s first fire truck in November when a crew of volunteers, including a Saugeen Shores police officer, delivered a converted 1979 pick-up truck.

Sgt. Andy Evans and his wife Megan traveled to the remote community with Operation Nicaragua, an initiative by firefighters in British Columbia, to bring the truck-turned-tanker and other equipment for paramedic and fire services.

“It’s the first fire truck they’ve ever had. For a town of 6,200 people, it’s going to save lives. It’s as simple as that,” Evans said.

The 10-square-kilometre island has never had a fire department, and Evans said emergency response has been “very rudimentary,” often limited to containing fires as buildings burned to the ground.

The island's first fire station was built by Operation Nicaragua volunteers earlier in 2014, and now they’ve equipped it with a truck.

The 1979 Ford F350 tanker was put on a container ship from a fire department in British Columbia and delivered to the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua.

From there, a group of volunteers drove the truck 12 hours to El Rama on the east coast of the county, followed by a six-hour sail down a river, and an additional six-hour boat ride on open seas. They then arrived at Big Corn, where Evans and Megan met the other volunteers to help unload the truck.

Evans said when the truck was taken off the boat in the pouring rain, people still lined the streets to see the delivery, as kids excitedly hopped on the back of the tanker.

“It was so sweet,” Megan said, adding that even residents on the neighbouring Little Corn Island had heard the truck was being delivered.

Evans said it will have an "immediate impact on the community, because there are fires out there and there's been no response. So it will save lives, it will save properties."

While some fire departments in Nicaragua are supported by the government, many areas, such as the Corn islands, are in charge of their own fire response and rely solely on volunteers.

Evans said that though the government does give some money to the volunteer departments, it’s US$60,000 split between 17 stations, so they’re “almost wholly supported” by donations from other countries including Canada, Russia, Spain and the United States.

“If you go to any one of these stations, it’s like a graveyard of fire trucks. There’s maybe two that are operational and maybe one ambulance, with a bunch just sitting there rotting and they just pull parts off of them as they need them. They work with what they’ve got,” Evans said.

The trucks are in a constant state of disrepair because the volunteers aren’t getting the advanced trucks - nor do they want them. Evans said dated trucks are easier for the firefighters to work on and they have the parts they need.

Despite enthusiastic volunteers who staff stations 24-hours a day, Evans said there was a shortfall of 26 fire trucks and ambulances across the 17 volunteer stations.

“It’s no fault of the dedication of the people there,” he said. “It’s just the funds they have demanded.”

However, with two recently-delivered trucks and one on its way, Operation Nicaragua has lessened the shortfall to 23.

The next step for Big Corn Island is training municipal employees to staff the fire station “because they already work within the town.”

Evans said local firefighters have likely already begun training the staff, and there will be teams of Canadians visiting on an ongoing basis over the next year to assist with training.

Evans’ trip followed a visit to Saugeen Shores from Gerry Caceres, a Nicaraguan fire chief who appealed for help from the local fire department in September.

Caceres owns Monty’s Beach Lodge in the remote community of Jiquilillo, “off the beaten path” on the northern Pacific Coast, where Evans and Megan stayed at the beginning of their 10-day trip.

Evans also stayed at the resort during his two previous visits to Nicaragua earlier in 2014, and said it’s unique in that it’s built on volunteerism. He said a portion of what everyone spends is put back into the community, and it allows like-minded people to work together.

“The most important thing is that he’s providing a platform for people to go down there and do something... He could easily run that place and have just as many people there, but not turn any of that back into the community,” he said.

This is the third time Evans has traveled with Operation Nicaragua, and the second time for Megan. They plan to return in April with their two children, who joined them on a trip in spring 2014.

Since its inception in 2009, Operation Nicaragua has donated 17 fire trucks, as well as old hoses, equipment, gear, wheelchairs, hospital beds, and more.